N120m drugs found inside traveller’s luggage

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have discovered illicit drugs valued at N120 million inside the luggage of a man travelling to South Africa. The suspect, Okonkwo Isaac Ekemezie, 51, a Nigerian based in Johannesburg, South Africa, was alleged to be attempting to smuggle 36.850kg of narcotic drugs to South Africa. The shipment was intercepted at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja during the outward screening of an Ethiopian Airline flight. The NDLEA spokesman, Mitchel Ofoyeju, said: “The suspected substances hidden in his luggage were field tested and found to be methamphetamine weighing 17.700kg and ephedrine weighing 19.150kg with an estimated monetary value of 120 million naira.” The NDLEA commander at the Abuja airport, Hamisu Lawan, said few days after the arrest of Ilo Chidera Alex, with 15.850kg of cocaine concealed inside make-up brushes from Sao Paulo enroute Dubai, Ekemezie was arrested. Hamisu said: “Drug traffickers are always experimenting with new routes all in a bid to evade arrest by law enforcement officers. By our record at this airport, South Africa is not a common route for drug traffickers. Ekemezie is a suspected member of a drug trafficking cartel in South Africa where he lives. His mission was to come to Nigeria to facilitate the exportation of 36.850kg of narcotic drugs to South Africa. That criminal action was however aborted because of the vigilance of our officers.” Hamisu noted that the arrest of Ekemezie was similar to that of one Fred Chuka Obi, found with 1.594kg of cocaine on his way to Tel Aviv, which was not a normal route for drug traffickers. “Ekemezie is currently assisting narcotic investigators with relevant information to track other members of the criminal group,” said Ofoyeju. The NDLEA Chairman, Ahmadu Giade, reiterated his determination to dismantle drug trafficking cartels in the country. Giade said: “In line with the NDLEA Act, we shall adopt measures such as coordinated preventive and repressive action against drug trafficking cartels. The NDLEA shall introduce investigative and control techniques aimed at preventing drugs from coming in or going out of the country at all entry and exit points.”